HomeGrid Forum and ZigBee Alliance Team to Establish Wired and Wireless Smart Home Applications

The HomeGrid Forum recently announced a new liaison agreement with the ZigBee Alliance to extend their collaboration on the ZigBee Smart Energy standard development. This work will pave the way for consumers and utilities to use ZigBee Smart Energy version 2.0 wireless or wired networks to further advance Smart Grid programs and deliver new energy, financial and environmental savings.

Both organizations will collaborate on ensuring ZigBee Smart Energy version 2 and HomeGrid Forum’s ITU-T G.hn and G.hnem standards can be utilized in a wide variety of smart grid usage models. When finalized, applications such as AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure), Demand Response (DR), Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEV) and any other Smart Grid application/service that needs a reliable Home Area Network (HAN) or distribution/access network will benefit.

GE’s Nucleus™ Energy Manager is First Energy Gateway to be ZigBee®-Certified

GE announced that its Nucleus™ energy manager with Brillion™ technology will be the first ZigBee®-certified home energy gateway for smart grid communications and home energy management. Nucleus is the first ZigBee device to act as both an in-premise display device and energy services gateway that can communicate inside and outside of the home. In this regard, consumers need only to connect the Nucleus to the utility smart meter, and then have the option of connecting smart home devices, and a smart phone interface that is currently under development, to the Nucleus.

Using the ZigBee communication protocol, GE’s Nucleus will be capable of communicating with the smart grid and allowing consumers to manage their smart appliances and thermostats in response to utility price signals and take control of their energy consumption and costs.

ZigBee is a standards-based (IEEE 802.15.4), wireless communications protocol that is embedded in, and compatible with, a wide-range of energy-management devices in the home. ZigBee enables smart technologies – like appliances, thermostats and energy gateways – to receive signals from the utility through the home’s smart meter. Products that receive ZigBee certification are able to communicate with a broad range of devices, ultimately providing flexibility, reliability and cost-effectiveness.

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ZigBee Smart Energy Makes Electric Outlets Smart

Energy Optimizers Limited (EOL) has launched a new ZigBee Smart Energy version of its existing plug-in electricity meter for the Canadian market that can help utilities and households understand better the load demand on the grid. The U.K. company’s device, called the plogg, allows utilities, home and building-owners to monitor how much electricity is being used by individual appliances and electronic devices so that energy efficiency across the grid can be improved. The plogg has gained approval to CSA C22.2 No 61010-1 for use in Canada.

The plogg is a combined smart meter plug and data logger, based on Ember’s EM357 ZigBee wireless technology running on a Telegesis module. It can be attached to any electrical appliance or device that uses a standard NEMA 5-15 15 Amp North American plug. The plogg stores the measured electricity data and wirelessly communicates this information through an Internet-linked Ethernet gateway. For instance, BC Hydro in Vancouver is using the plogg in trials designed to test demand side management (DSM) programs that provide accurate load data for the following residential end-uses: Appliance Loads, Standby Loads, Reactive Loads, Voltages.

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Acceleration of smart grid and smart energy deployments

Ember announced it has reached a key milestone in its quest to become the world's foremost provider of ZigBee technology for smart meters and Home Area Network (HAN) products when it became the first company to ship more than 10 million ZigBee wireless chips. This milestone is reflected in the company's record revenues and sales bookings, making Ember well positioned for almost 300% annual revenue growth in 2010.

Ember's spectacular ramp has been driven by large-scale deployments of smart energy technologies by utilities, device manufacturers, and smart home products for applications in energy management and home security, monitoring and automation. Whether it's in-home displays for energy management such as those from Control4 or Tendril, or home awareness systems like uControl and AlertMe, or smart meters from leaders such as Landis+Gyr and Itron, chances are that the slew of ZigBee smart energy products hitting the market are Ember-enabled.

Across the world, billions are being invested in smart grid programs as part of grid modernization and carbon emission control measures and ZigBee has become the chosen low-power wireless standard for advanced metering and HANs.

ZigBee and Wi-Fi Alliances to Collaborate on Smart Grid Wireless Networking

The ZigBee Alliance and the Wi-Fi Alliance announced an agreement to collaborate on wireless home area networks (HAN) for Smart Grid applications. The initial focus of the collaboration will be ZigBee Smart Energy 2.0, which is the next-generation energy management protocol for Smart Grid-enabled homes based on today's successful ZigBee Smart Energy Profile. The ZigBee Smart Energy 2.0 is expected to operate over Wi-Fi technology as a result of the collaboration.

The two organizations will identify opportunities to use ZigBee Smart Energy 2.0, capitalizing on the unique strengths and capabilities of their respective technologies. This will expand the utility of the HAN in the management of energy consuming or producing devices, a crucial part of Smart Grid efforts now underway. ZigBee Smart Energy 2.0 was selected last year by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as an initial interoperable standard for HAN devices.

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Residential Control Systems Supports SES 2010

Parks Associates welcomes Residential Control Systems as a Smart Energy Summit sponsor in 2010.

Residential Control Systems (RCS) designs and manufactures networked Thermostats, HVAC controls and Energy Management products for residential, hospitality and light commercial buildings.

Since 1993, RCS products have enabled comfort and energy usage to be monitored, measured, controlled and managed. RCS products communicate via a wide range of wired and wireless protocols including ZigBee, Z-Wave, WiFi, Ethernet and Power Line Carrier.

Integrated with Web based services and Utility pricing programs, RCS products provide optimal energy and cost conservation while affording the user enhanced environmental control and connectivity. In all, RCS’s suite of smart connected products enables intelligent control of the space, with maximum efficiency, at minimum cost.

RCS is headquartered in California with offices in Sacramento and San Diego.

For more information on Residential Control Systems, please visit http://www.resconsys.com/.

OpenFrame 7E MultiMedia Home Energy Management Device Achieves

OpenPeak Inc., a leading provider of VoIP multimedia touch-screen device and telephony systems, announced today that its OpenFrame® 7E VoIP multimedia home energy management and communications platform has achieved ZigBee Smart Energy Certification by the ZigBee® Alliance. The OpenFrame 7E uses the ZigBee Smart Energy home area network standard to help consumers improve their energy efficiency by giving them the tools to manage their energy consumption more precisely by using automation and near real-time information.

The device collects consumption and usage data from various meters and devices within each home. OpenFrame 7E then filters and aggregates the data to transmit only the required or most relevant information about usage patterns back to the utility to eliminate the overburden of transmitting all household consumption data. Additionally, the OpenPeak platform provides an application-driven system to enable the release new energy management services to customers. By leveraging OpenPeak's back-end services platform, a utility can roll out new or updated applications that could include renewable energy monitoring, electric vehicle charging, prepaid utility bills and more.

OpenPeak's world-class, end-to-end design, engineering and delivery system allows telecom and utility providers to deliver a rich, interactive media experience to customers with the convenience and comfort of a durable touch-screen interface, along with VoIP telephone, where applicable.

For the full press release, click here.

OpenPeak sponsors SMART Energy Summit 2010

Parks Associates welcomes OpenPeak Inc. as a new sponsor for the 2010 SMART Energy Summit in Austin, Texas.

OpenPeak Inc. creates, designs, and develops innovative systems and devices that enable simple control of home energy usage, VoIP telephony, digital media, Internet content, and consumer electronics on a single touch screen device. OpenPeak allows utilities to deliver service updates to users on demand today, and provides a platform for the deployment of future energy applications as they are developed. Through the OpenPeak App Shop, the same device can deliver a complete communications package including news, sports, weather, social networking, and instant messaging and is compatible with a variety of communication standards, including ZigBee and Wi-Fi.

For more visit www.openpeak.com.

Itron and OpenPeak Partner to Allow Utilities and Their Customers to More Actively Manage In-Home Energy Consumption

Itron Inc. announced a partnership with OpenPeak Inc. for integration of Itron’s industry-leading advanced metering systems with OpenPeak’s Home Energy Management Solution. Combining the technologies will allow utility companies and their customers to more actively manage in-home energy consumption to save money and help preserve the environment.

Itron is the first advanced metering vendor chosen by OpenPeak to incorporate its line of user-friendly, multimedia touch screen units into its advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)/smart grid network. Under terms of the agreement, Itron will provide ERT reading technology to OpenPeak. This means a single reading device can be used with either an OpenWay installation or many of Itron’s legacy ERT-enabled devices for electric, gas or water service, helping customers leverage their existing Itron investment.

The OpenPeak Home Energy Management Solution provides a simple user-friendly display of the real-time energy usage and pricing data provided by Itron’s advanced metering systems. OpenPeak’s technology also provides a centralized user interface for thermostats and communication capabilities including demand response event notification. Its integration with OpenWay and ChoiceConnect enables utilities to better manage and communicate residential demand response programs to help conserve energy when demand is at its peak. For example, consumers who have signed up for a utility's demand response program can reduce their nonessential usage by cutting back on lighting and cooling in underused parts of their home when the electrical grid is near capacity.

Both companies’ technologies support a variety of communication standards including ZigBee and WiFi, allowing for true interoperability, which is foundational to the burgeoning smart grid.

For the full press release, please click here.